ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter touches upon some aspects of Italian regionalism which are most fascinating and inspiring from an outsider perspective. By recalling important insights of the previous chapters, it follows the trials and tribulations of the Italian constitutional history, highlighting the features which seem particularly instructive. Over the past decades, Italy has experimented with a model of state organisation on its own – regionalism – which is as captivating to study as it is challenging to understand. No doubt, Italy has a lot to offer to all countries interested in living in a peaceful unity in respect of diversity. In particular, the Italian lessons are a great gift to all compound states seeking to establish a legitimate and effective government system while refusing fully-fledged federalism. Is there a third way to keep the balance between a centralistic unitary state and a federation? There is, in fact, much more. Regionalism adds most crucial elements to the toolbox of power sharing. Interestingly, these can be inspirational to both types of federalism sceptics: to the unitarians rejecting federalism because it goes too far in empowering subnational units, and the separatists discarding federalism for not offering sufficient protection to individual units.
